


What the Water Gave Me

by Lywinis



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Capsicoul - Freeform, Gen, Getting Together, If you squint you can see Steve working out that he likes our favorite agent, M/M, preslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-21
Updated: 2013-02-21
Packaged: 2017-12-03 03:43:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/693723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lywinis/pseuds/Lywinis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil Coulson is a practical man. He's learned not to question some things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What the Water Gave Me

  
_**‘Cause they took your loved ones** _   
_**But returned them in exchange for you** _   
_**But would you have it any other way?** _   
_**Would you have it any other way?** _   
_**You could have it any other way** _

_**‘Cause she’s a cruel mistress** _   
_**And the bargain must be made** _   
_**But oh, my love, don’t forget me** _   
_**When I let the water take me** _

_**So, lay me down** _   
_**Let the only sound** _   
_**Be the over flow** _   
_**Pockets full of stones** _

_**Lay me down** _   
_**Let the only sound** _   
_**Be the overflow** _   


— Florence + the Machine, “What the Water Gave Me”

* * *

The water around Greenland was cold. Phil could feel it spraying up around his face, stinging with salt and chill, and he made a mental note to remind the juniors aboard about their hypothermia gear. It was a routine land and repair, the Helicarrier’s engines going through their routine maintenance and upgrade procedure. It was a smooth operation, although the craft wouldn’t be mobile for several hours.

Greenland in February was an ideal place for the repairs and upgrades. The seas were hostile, choppy dark water and subzero temperatures making it a perfect place to land and repair, replace, and upgrade without worrying about the threat to security a drydock would have. If the enemy was too busy worrying about their fingers snapping off in the cold, it was highly likely they weren’t paying attention to what you were doing.

The wind howled, a strong gust, and his feet slid a little on the slick deck. He was tethered to the tarmac, a belt strapped around his waist and connected to a u-ring bolted to the deck. The helicarrier pitched and yawed in the gust, and the agents scrambled for balance, the techs working hard to get the upgrades into place as fast as possible.

“You don’t have to watch them, you know.” The crunch of boots across the ice heralded Steve Rogers’s approach, and Phil turned to greet his hero. The shine hadn’t worn off; Steve was still larger than life, commanding eyes his way with his presence. “I’m sure they’re capable of installing the new engine without your supervision.”

Phil smiled, because it couldn’t be seen behind the face mask he wore, bundled against the chill slash of the wind. “Captain, I’m not watching them, I’m watching out for them. It’s my turn on guard duty. Everyone shares the load on an operation.”

“Little early for anything but light desk duty, isn’t it?” Steve’s eyes cut through the swirling snow that was falling. “Go on inside, Phil. I’ll take over.”

“You’re not even wearing a harness, Captain. I don’t think so. Not until you have proper safety gear for walking the deck.” Phil shook his head, even as Steve fought to keep his balance when the deck pitched to the right again. “Not a suggestion, move it.”

“It slows me down,” Steve said. It was exasperating how mulish he could be at times. Phil bit his tongue and pointed, and Steve slid his way back to the door for a spare harness, cable, and carabiner to attach himself to the u-ring that Phil was near. He started out across the deck again, feet splayed wide to keep his balance.

“Echo Delta One-Niner, repeat, Echo Delta One-Niner, we have bogeys on the horizon at six o’clock. ID in forty-five seconds.” Quartermain’s voice cut through the radio chatter, and the deck exploded into motion, techs dropping tools and retrieving weapons as they sought cover. Steve skidded past Phil as the Helicarrier shifted in the wake of her engines starting. Phil’s hand snapped out, and he caught hold of the harness as Steve almost lost his footing. Phil’s harness pulled taut, and they came to a stop. Steve nodded his thanks, and Phil grabbed for the safety line.

“No time now, Phil. I have work to do.” He sprinted across the deck, boots finding their footing as the first of the HYDRA soldiers began to land.

Of course it was HYDRA. When had they ever left SHIELD alone? Phil grumbled and took cover, firing off shots around Steve to assist. Guns went skidding from fingers even as the sound of vibranium on steel echoed through the storm. Steve sliced through another barrel with his shield, and the sound crawled down Phil’s spine, putting his teeth on edge.

“Incoming!” A Quinjet screamed overhead, pulse weapons targeting a looming shape rising from the water.

“Oh, of course they bring in the robots. Why wouldn’t they?” Phil wasn’t feeling very generous toward the soldiers at the moment, and he leaned out of cover, squeezing off a shot that took one of them in the knee. He screamed and went down, a shield knocking him unconscious a couple of seconds later.

“Wouldn’t be any fun without ‘em, boss.” Clint was as high as he could get, picking off stragglers and herding the bulk of them away from Steve so that he could get at the eight-legged robot that rose streaming seawater. “Yo, Cap, you got this?”

“Not retired yet,” Steve said, leaping into the air over a tentacle and grunting over the comms as Tony caught him midair. He was dropped onto the robot’s head, the velocity of the suit’s dive increasing the cutting power of the shield’s edge. The front end sheared off like a hot knife through butter and Steve dropped to the deck, taking the pilot of the robot with him and knocking him cold. He stood, the other SHIELD agents wrapping up the strike.

“This was nice and neat,” Phil said. He made his way over with a cable for Steve’s harness. He looked around. “Too neat. Where’s Natasha?”

“Below decks. Someone tried worming in through the engine room.” Natasha’s voice was calm. “I have it covered.”

“Good work,” Phil said, and held out the cable for Steve to take.

There was a rumble behind them, and the octopus robot staggered upward, a tentacle wrapping around Steve’s waist. In a blink, it rolled its way to the edge and dropped off, sending the Captain plunging to the icy depths.

There was an outcry from everyone, but Phil paid it no heed. He unclipped the line and arced into the water after Steve, knifing downward after his hero. The shock of the cold water almost took his breath, but he held on, kicking for both their lives. He knew he had a limited amount of time to get to Steve, and he pushed himself, his lungs screaming.

Steve had worked his way free of the robot, his shield dangling from his fingers. Phil hooked his arms underneath Steve’s and kicked upward, working them toward the surface.

Steve began to struggle, kicking his legs in counterpoint to get away from Phil. Phil let him go and Steve kicked up of his own accord, but it was sluggish, as if he were fighting something. Phil swam with him, keeping pace. Steve pushed him away and Phil wound his fist into the mail of Steve’s tunic, crashing their lips together to give him air and prove that he wasn’t an enemy in the dark water.

Steve froze, then melted a little. Phil could hear the muted crash of something heavy hitting the water above them and assumed that it was Stark coming after them. He was rewarded with a pair of armored gauntlets that hooked themselves around the pair of them, and they went limp as the repulsors propelled them toward the surface.

They broke the surface of the water, and the air seared his lungs as he took a shuddering breath. Tony handed them off to the medics, who rushed them both into medical. They were stripped of their wet clothes and wrapped in warm shock blankets. He glanced over at Steve, his head hanging down as the super soldier looked to be concentrating on breathing in and out.

The room was almost a sauna, but still, Phil wiggled a little closer to Steve on the bench they shared as they began to warm up.

“That’s twice now you’ve pulled me out,” Steve said, his voice soft and pitched just for Phil to hear. Phil glanced around at the medics scurrying around to make sure they hadn’t lost anything important to frostbite.

“That’s what SHIELD does,” Phil said.

“Mmh,” Steve said, and he looked skeptical. “Why not let the guy in the climate controlled suit take care of it?”

“Reflex.” Phil shrugged, his side pressed up against Steve’s as he shivered. In the mirror across from them, he could see the tinge of his lips. He was a faint blue. Still warming up. “Why didn’t you swim for it? You’ve got a powerful breaststroke, I was there when they timed you in the pool.”

Steve was quiet for a long moment. “It was cold.”

Phil gave a slow nod. “Yeah, that can sap a lot out of you.”

“Not you, you dove in after me.”

“And I probably gave myself the flu,” Phil replied, his smile wry. “Don’t worry about it, Captain. I owed you one.”

“You didn’t.” Steve looked angry. “You dove in and you kissed me and –“

“I dove in and I tried to make sure you were breathing. You were struggling and I wanted you to realize I was an ally.” Phil frowned.

“Oh.” Steve looked down. “Okay.”

Phil cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I acted rashly.”

“It’s fine,” Steve said, his eyes on his blanket-covered toes. His brow was furrowed, and Phil had no idea what it meant. He stood up, His blanket draped around him and went to sit closer to the heater.

* * *

Later, in his quarters, when medical released him, he pulled on his warmest pair of sweats, thick wool socks, and crawled into his cot. He’d just pulled the blankets up when the knock on his door came. He repressed a sigh and stood, wrapping the quilt around his shoulders.

He opened the door to find Steve Rogers looking too big for the door cut into the bulkhead. He shifted from foot to foot and Phil paused, the only indication of his surprise a raised eyebrow.

“Can I help you, Captain?”

“I don’t know,” Steve said, his voice bleak. “Can you call me Steve? I thought that was what friends did.”

Phil moved away from the door, indicating with a wave of his hand that Steve could come in. He did so, shutting the door behind him. Phil sank onto the cot with a sigh and a creaking in his knees that the cot’s noise disguised.

“Talk to me, Steve. What’s wrong?” Phil wondered if he were approaching this the right way.

Steve surprised him by sitting on the cot next to him. “I’m still cold.”

Phil nodded. “Me, too. We did jump into subarctic water.”

“You did.” That quiet note was in Steve’s voice again. “Why?”

_I didn’t want to lose you again._  “Reflex, like I said.”

“And, that’s it, hm? I’m expected to believe that this was…a rescue attempt because you felt the need to be a hero?” Steve gave an agitated snort. “I find that hard to do.”

“The last time I tried to be a hero, I died.” Phil matched Steve’s tone and Steve jerked away as if burned. “Can’t seem to stop doing it. Someone who doesn’t like security cables seems to be a bad influence and keeps scaring the wits out of me.”

Steve met his eyes. “I thought so.”

“Thought what?” Phil’s eyes narrowed. “Look, just spit it out, what in the hell do you think –“

Steve’s mouth pressed against his own, and Phil startled at the mingling of breath. He pulled away, eyes searching Steve’s face.

“What was that about?” Phil’s brows drew down in a scowl. “What exactly are you…?”

Steve put a hand on his wrist when he made to stand. “I didn’t mean – sharing breath, that’s all it was. Like they taught you in the army. Buddy breathing. I needed it. I’m sorry.”

Phil settled back on the cot. “And you’re…all right?”

“I might be, when I’m less cold and can breathe better.” Steve leaned back against the bulkhead and closed his eyes.

Phil nodded and leaned against his shoulder, sharing his warmth. Occasionally Steve would share his breath, and that was all right with Phil too.

Sometimes these things went better left unsaid.

**Author's Note:**

> I like the concept of 'Buddy-Breathing", as Steve calls it. Nice even way to spend time with your rescuer. You know, while you decide if you like him or not.


End file.
